1. Field of the Invention
A mobile treatment, diagnostic and minor surgical procedure unit and methods are described. In particular, the unit and methods facilitate the diagnosis, treatment, study of epidemiological significance of particular symptoms, diseases or illnesses within a population as well as the delivery of primary care, analytic testing, and services to communities and people and isolated populations in need.
2. Description of the Background
Delivery of primary care is an important component of public health care, especially in developing countries or other areas where access to medical services is challenging or prohibitive. Primary care is typically a point of first contact when it comes to the health of a particular individual or population. This type of consultation addresses the widest scope of health care by including patients of all ages and a variety of health care needs. Thus, primary care is often the basis of an effective health care system.
Within the context of primary care, there can be epidemiological concerns and vice versa. For example, studying the nature, time and duration of symptoms, signs, illnesses as well as treatments and diagnoses from a community or population perspective is often crucial for understanding the clinical significance of risk factors in the community, the absolute risk associated with interventions or risk factors, and the efficient targeting of preventive and other resources. Further, tailored advice can be provided to individual patients/families during the consultation. Changes in the shape of primary care, and the range of symptoms and illnesses managed by different members of the primary health care team, can influence understanding of: the epidemiology of disease in the community; the need for different health care services; and how epidemiology is performed.
Typically, temporary fixed medical facilities are established for disaster medical care, e.g., in the event of a natural disaster or an epidemic outbreak in a given geographic region, or to augment existing health care structures at times of building infrastructure or performing renovations. The effectiveness of any temporary medical facility is dependent on the readiness and rapidity with which such assets are prepared to evaluate patients once established. The appropriate equipment for the deployment mission, ease of use, and staff to provide care is all equally important considerations. While fixed, static structures, such as hospitals and clinics, are essential to communities; locations for such structures are typically reserved for the most populated areas. This situation is clearly not beneficial for those living outside this service area or in remote locations. In countries where travel is on foot, these challenges to health and medical care resources are especially problematic.
In light of this dilemma, providing a portable medical facility that can reinforce or augment the existing local medical facilities and provide basic medical services and care would be advantageous according to the present invention described below. In particular, such facilities can be important in diagnostics, specifically, understanding disease spread and epidemiological surveillance. Targeting certain diseases and establishing definitive diagnoses increases the likelihood that accurate treatment options are known and available earlier in the course of a particular illness or outbreak of illness, thus increasing the potential for positive outcomes.